


Mamma Mia, he’s Italiano!

by Toca



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: 14 000+ words, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Annoyed Ed, Blushing, Boys In Love, Complete, Dialogue Heavy, Eduardo Dorado Sr. (mentioned) - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Jaime Reyes/Traci Thurston (mentioned), Jealous Bart, M/M, One Shot, Original Female Character/Original Female Character - Freeform, Original Male Character - Freeform, So much blushing, Tim Drake (Mentioned) - Freeform, Tim Drake/Cassie Sandsmark (mentioned), Traci Thurston (mentioned), not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22197730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toca/pseuds/Toca
Summary: After rescuing the prime minister of Italy from the evil clutches of Queen Bee, the Outsiders are invited to an event in their honor. Milan might not be the city of love, but everything can change, especially when a handsome Italian takes an interest in Ed and Bart is hit with a realization regarding his feelings towards his teammate.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Eduardo Dorado Jr., Eduardo Dorado Jr./Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 80





	Mamma Mia, he’s Italiano!

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in years, but those two were too cute to ignore! This turned out way too long and took way to long to write... It didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to, but I think it's good. I hope you find it interesting enough to stick around until the end. 
> 
> "..." - talking  
> '...' - thinkng
> 
> Not beta-d all mistakes are mine!
> 
> Disclaimer: The Bulgari hotel is a real place, but it has nothing to do with the one in the fic.

**Komy Island**

**March 20, 23:45 UTC+2**

“Terra, manoeuvre 16!” shouted Wonder girl, while throwing Tuppence Terror against a wall with her lasso.

Terra nodded and send a chunk of flying earth towards Wonder girl, who jumped on top of it. The earth piece took her swiftly to the center of the action, where Beast Boy was fighting Mammoth, while in the form of a green Gorilla.

Wonder girl jumped from the flying earth piece and landed on Mammoth’s back, where she wrapped her lasso around his neck and pulled tight, so that Beast Boy could deliver one last finishing blow to his face.

“Beast Boy to Beta, have you located the hostages?” He asked, contacting the other team through his ear piece, while narrowly avoiding an icicle flying his way.

“Yup, just got them out. E.D. will teleport them on the Bio-Ship.” Kid flash answered triumphantly, appearing from behind Beast Boy and forming a small tornado around Junior, sending him flying.

A sonic blast from above send Tommy Terror across the room. “Mission complete, ese. Let’s get out of here!” Said Blue Beatle, while grabbing Wonder girl’s arm and flying towards the opening in the roof.

Beast Boy used his ear piece once more. “Bio-Ship, come and get us.”

The Outsiders swiftly escaped through the ceiling hole and boarded the ship.

“Woohoo! Another successful mission for the Outsiders, if I do say so myself” Kid Flash high-fived El Dorado, then leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the control table.

**Hollywood**

**March 21, 9:23 PST**

“Good job team. You have successfully rescued Italy’s prime minister and her husband. They are on their way to Italy as we speak.” Came Nightwing’s voice from the large Tv in the Tower’s living room. “Even though both the League’s and the Outsiders’ approval rates are constantly rising we still need to earn the people’s trust back...”

“And that’s becoming harder and harder with Infinity inc. running around and stealing all the spotlight.” Interjected Static.

“Hey, I said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s not a bad thing that we have inspired other meta-teens to fight for what’s right” Best Boy crossed his arms over his chest confidently.

“Yeah man, but statistics don’t lie and both ours and the League’s aren’t exactly consistent.” Said Cyborg, while showing the team a hologram comparing the League’s, the Outsider’s and Infinity Inc.’s approval ratings.

Infinity inc. was leading with the Outsiders behind them and the League slowly rising.

“So not crash.” Huffed Kid flash.

Terra added “Well, at least it’s good to see, that the League’s newfound openness is actually having an impact on the people’s opinion.”

Nightwing sighed “It’s a slow rise, but it’s something.” He continued “Now, let’s get back to the matter at hand, we still don’t know why Onslaught kidnapped Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Cancio and her husband, Matteo Cancio, but considering that Onslaught works for Queen Bee, it was certainly her doing... just like always there aren’t any evidence to back that up. The best we can do is assume...”

“And that assumption is..?” El Dorado was looking up, while sitting next to Bart on the large sofa in front of the screen, a lopsided grin on his face.

“ _That assumption_ is that Queen Bee is trying to eliminate all the politicians who have publicly stated that they don’t think her acquisition of the country formerly known as Qurac was done with completely legal methods.” Finished Nightwing.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow “Then why didn’t she just, you know, kill them?”

“Killing them would bring too much attention from the media, it would be even worse if it’s discovered that Onslaught was involved, considering they work for her and have diplomatic immunity in both Bialya and Greater Bialya” explained Superboy.

“Hello Megan! She wanted to use her influence on them, make them her allies, rather than opponents. Probably why she kept them on Komy Island, one of the islands in her jurisdiction.” Jaime looked thoughtful.

“From what Forager understood, there is nothing the Outsiders can do.” Said the red bug alien, nervously rubbing his hands.

“Not exactly, the most we can do now is warn the potential victims and have the League, the Team and the Outsiders keep an eye on them.” The former boy wonder concluded.

The Outsiders nodded in agreement.

Nightwing continued “All in all, good job everybody, Nightwing out.” The screen went blank.

**Hollywood**

**March 30, 15:50 PST**

Garfield was standing in the living room, in front of the huge screen, his back turned to all his teammates, currently filling out the room.

“So why did you call this meeting, fearless leader?” Ed’s soothing accent cut through the silence.

Cassie smiled “Is there a new mission for us?”

Garfield turned towards them, huge grin on his face “No and yes, the Outsiders have been invited to Italy by the prime minister!”

“Wait, what?” Virgil looked surprised.

“The prime minister of Italy has invited us to an event in our honour, there will be other big politicians there, who will all show their support and gratitude towards both the Outsiders and the League! A part of the event will be televised with different news outlets covering the story. This is exactly the kind of good publicity we need right now!” Explained Garfield.

Conner moved his head to the side and raised an eyebrow “And does the Team or the League know about this?”

“They have been informed and should we accept the invite M’Gann will also come with us, disguised, of course.” The green teen explained.

“I mean it will be nice to have public endorsers, especially from a country, other than America.” Bart added.

“Mhm, gaining the trust of not only the people living around the world, but also their governments will certainly make our job way easier.” Vic continued.

Cassie looked thoughtful “Maybe we can learn if some of the politicians there know anything about Markovia, I mean the whole country has been nothing, but silent since Brion took over.”

Tara looked up surprised and then down - sad and uncomfortable. Forager but two of his four hands on her shoulder and back.

“Sorry...” Cassie apologised quickly.

The rather happy atmosphere had significantly dropped.

Garfield tried to divert the team’s attention back to the matter at hand “The event will take place in about three weeks time, on the 21st of April in the Bulgari Hotel in Milan.”

That defiantly peaked the team’s interest.

Garfield continued “The “Thank you very much for saving us and not letting us become Queen Bee’s minions” party will start at 7:30 pm with all the guests’ arrival on a sort of Red carpet, but not really, then there will be introductions with a televised speech by the Prime minister, dinner and afterwards Party time!”

“This whole thing sounds so... fancy?” Virgil looked unsure.

“Do any of you even own something more elegant than a pair of jeans and a dress shirt?” Cassie was smirking.

“Hey, I’m a movie star! I go to fancy events all the time, of course I own suits!” Garfield replied, faking offence.

Ed looked concentrated “I used to own a couple, because of dance classes and competitions, though I doubt any of them still fit... and I did leave them all in Argentina.”

Cassie looked towards them as if to prove her point.

“Hey! You don’t exactly think of looking fancy when you’re on the run!” The Latino defended himself.

“Wait, let’s backtrack! Dancing? What kind?” The speedster had a really surprised and doubtful look on his face, but his eyes were shining with excitement.

“Sí, amigo, well argentine tango, of course, but also ballroom dances like waltz.” Ed grinned.

“That’s totally crash, but I would have never pegged you for that type of dancing.” The other teen was smirking, his eyebrows raised.

Jaime smirked “Or dancing in general, you were so irritated and moody two years ago, not exactly dancer qualities.”

“I’m a guy of many talents.” Ed shot back.

“Okay, Garfield has fancy outfits and Ed can dance, that’s great and all, but how are we supposed to act around all those politicians?” Victor asked exasperated.

Tara interjected “I can tell you a couple things about behaviour around such high class people, I am... well, was a princess after all.” Forager continued rubbing her back.

“I’m sure Perdita also won’t mind helping us out. Okay, so... all in favour of going?” Garfield asked, the mood again a bit tense.

“Aye!” Came everybody’s reply, while not filled with as much enthusiasm as Garfield would like it was still a good start.

“Crash.” The green teen smiled.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 20, 8:34 GMT+2**

The car that had taken the Outsiders and Miss Martian from the airport had just stopped to halt. The hotel was huge, made of marble and other stone, the structure looked big and heavy, but also elegant and sophisticated.

Bart was the first out of the car “This car ride took forever!” He immediately perked up after seeing the hotel.

“Wow! This place is so crash!” Exclaimed Kid flash, while running everywhere in and out of the hotel. He elbowed Garfield “Now I understand why you like being a celebrity so much.”

Eduardo whistled “We’re just standing in front of this thing and I already feel like I’ve gone bankrupt.”

The hotel employees that were waiting for them in front of the building were already taking their baggage out of the car. One of them introduced himself as Nicolo and said, that if there is anything they want or have any questions not to hesitate to ask him or any of the other employees. He gestured for the superheroes to follow him inside the hotel.

On the inside the hotel was even more stunning, again marble decorated with golden specks and dark wood. Everything looked so glamorous, like something straight out of a movie. It was like the place was shining and shimmering.

The receptionist was a young and energetic woman, her name was Francesca and she again, just like Nicolo, said, that they shouldn’t hesitate to contact her. She gave them their room keys, everybody had their own room, even Superboy and Miss Martin, who was coming under the disguise of a representative for the Justice League. Everybody also had full access to any of the hotel’s luxuries, such as the pool, the spa, the restaurant and so on. Francesca said they they will find their belongings already in the room.

“I hope you enjoy your stay with us!” Was the last thing she said, before the superhero team headed to the elevators.

Banter started as soon as they walked away from the reception.

“So which room are you in?” Asked Jaime, Bart.

“3016, you?” Bart asked looking at the magnetic card.

“3020!” Jaime answered, relieved to be close to his best friend.

“We’re really close, that’s so crash!” Bart was really excited.

Both of them visibly relaxed after learning they at least had one teammate close-by.

“I don’t wanna interrupt that cute “bro moment” you’ve got over there, but we’re all on the same floor.” Ed teased from behind them, showing his “3023” card to them.

“Oh!” Blue Beetle and the speedster smiled, a little embarrassed.

Bart was quick to pick himself up “That’s even more crash!”

Garfield cleared his throat “Okay, team, I don’t know about you, but I’m really jet lagged, especially because we couldn’t use the Bio-ship. After the Reach, not every country allows alien technology to cross their borders... Anyways, everyone know the plan for tomorrow right?”

“Look good and approachable!” Cassie answered.

“Make sure we are on our best behaviour, because of all the media coverage.” Cyborg continued.

“And don’t do anything stupid and embarrass ourselves in front of all those fancy people...” Virgil, looking a bit miserable, added.

“And?” Beast Boy asked, smiling, one eyebrow quirked up.

“And be ready by 7 pm, we get it, mom, don’t worry.” Ed, with his arms crossed over his chest, answered. “Now can we stop hogging the elevator and get some rest in our rooms?” A gentle smile gracing his face.

“Hey, it’s called being prepared okay? But, yeah, I would also like to take a nap.” Garfield yawned for good measure.

M’Gann was smiling, her hand on Connor’s shoulder “ _He’s becoming such a good leader, growing up so quickly_.” She said telepathically to her fiancé.

“ _He really has grown those couple of months. They all have._ ” He squeezed her hand.

The Team arrived on their floor, said their goodbays and all headed towards their rooms.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 20, 14:36 GMT+2**

It had been a couple of hours since the team separated and Bart was bored out of his mind. He had already done everything there was to do in this room, taken a shower, watched tv, even slept for a bit. The speedster had already seen the whole hotel and the place was boring, there was nothing to do other than relax. Relaxing was not exactly his thing, he needed excitement, he need to see and experience things, he needed movement...

Bart would also love to see Milano, not that he couldn’t do it, he could see the whole country of Italy, if he so desired, but it’s always better with somebody. That way he can appreciate it more, he couldn’t exactly go sightseeing during the future, mostly because all of the survivors and children of survivors and so on were the Reach’s slaves and most of the world was destroyed and in ruins... But! That was then and that is now and that future will never happen... hopefully.

The brown haired teen flopped down on his bed from where he was standing in front of it, mulling over his boredom. He grabbed his phone.

He started mindlessly scrolling through Flitter and posted a pic he had taken while checking out the hotel. He looked through the “Memesiders” tag. Bart loved all the ridiculous things their fans would make like the “Ya’ll ugly” vine, but with Ed or all the PETA commercial parodies with Garfield. This defiantly kept him entertained for a couple of minutes, but it was quickly becoming boring. Living at super speed can be the worst sometimes.

Bart flipped himself over and opened his messages, maybe somebody was online. He texted Jaime (though in Bart’s phone it said ‘I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE’), but got nothing from him in the few seconds he waited for a response. Suddenly the little tic next to Eduardo’s name (‘EDgy’) turned from grey to green and Bart seized his opportunity.

KA-CHOW: Ed, mi amigo! Wyd?

EDgy: Just woke up, like 10 mins ago, u?

KA-CHOW: Same old, same old, I’m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

EDgy: Sooo?

KA-CHOW: BORED 😭😭😭

EDgy: Ain’t that the usual

KA-CHOW: Yessss, but YOU could help me!

EDgy: How so 🧐

KA-CHOW: Wanna blow this popsicle stand 😏

EDgy: LOL sure meet at the front in 15?

KA-CHOW: Ed, hermano, you’re a lifesaver

EDgy: Mi Dios, why can I hear the way you say ‘hermano’ even through text

Bart was buzzing with excitement, finally something to do! And with Ed! Ed’s honestly an awesome guy, he’s funny and a real smartass, him and Bart also bonded over their participation in the non-real, but certainly real enough “The Reach traumatised me for life (or has been traumatising me my whole life)” club.

In the beginning the curly haired teen was so angry and annoyed with everything and everybody around him, he saw his powers as a disease, an illness, wanted to get rid of them. Bart remembered how shocked and surprised Eduardo Dorado Sr. was when his son showed on his doorstep after defeating the Reach. The father honestly thought he ran away again.

Even though they spent time with Lex Luthor, “The Runaways” still didn’t have full control of their abilities or knew their full extend. So that’s where the League stepped in, helped the teens learn control in a way that didn’t make them feel like lap rats.

In those two years Ed and Bart’s relationship truly blossomed. Turns out, they had a lot in common, when both of them finally chilled out, Ed was not irritated by every little thing and Bart didn’t spend every waking minute wondering about the future.

Bart shock his head in a cartoonish way, as much as he’d like to reminiscent about his relationship with Ed, he should probably get dressed and get going. Bart grabbed a pair of black sweatpants shorts, a white T-shirt and a dark red shirt with the sleeves rolled up, which he left unbuttoned.

Bart had super speed, but he also had a secret identity, as retro as that was. He slowly opened his room’s door a little bit and looked both ways down the hallway. The team had checked the cameras earlier and luckily none of them looked their way, well not anymore that is, after Cyborg tinkered with them a bit and created a blind spot. ‘Coast clear’ Bart thought.

The green eyed teen walked out of his room, without forgetting his magnet card and other necessities. The speedster took the elevator, which also took forever and walked to the front of the hotel, a second later there was a golden flash and Eduardo appeared next to him.

Ed was wearing a green and yellow stripped, baggy T-shirt, which he had tucked into his light denim jeans. They were cuffed and he had a brown belt to hold them up.

‘Damn, he looks amazing, so crash, well Ed always manages to look great, he is also so funny...’ Such thoughts always crossed Bart’s mind when he was with Ed, but then again he thought all his friends were awesome, yet with Ed, it started to be a little different. He never dwelled too much on it.

The other teen grinned at Bart “So, you got any plans?”

“Not really... We could walk around, check out Milan, I’ve never been, you?” They were walking towards a park right outside of the hotel.

“Never to Italy, but I did cross a big part of South America, until I got abducted by the Reach in Brazil.” The Latino cringed at the memory. He was sleeping on a bench, then a second later there was a hand on his mouth and before the panic and the adrenaline could kick in, he was out like a light.

“Anyways, we are not here to relieve our traumas, I suggest we check out some of the tourist attractions? I mean, this city is know for being one of the fashion capitals of the world? We could go window shopping on one of those way too expansive streets?” Ed suggested, one eyebrow raised, thinking of things to do.

Bart put his arms behind his head “Whatever we do, I’m sure it’s going to be fun.”

“Hmm is that so? Why?” Ed smiled shyly.

“‘Cause we’re doing it together, amigo! And things are always way more fun with friends, I mean you really appreciate them, when you didn’t have any growing up.” Bart’s energetic stride slowed down a bit.

“Hah, guess we’re not good at this whole ‘not bringing up our traumas and problems’ thing, huh?” The tan teen smiled teasingly.

“Yeah, suppose so...”

They had reached one of the more reserved parts of the park. Bart flopped down on one of the benches, Ed sat down next to him. The sunlight coming through the leaves above them was warm and creating fun shapes on the teens’ faces.

“I’m so feeling the mode right now.” The speedster huffed.

“Wanna talk about it?” Ed offered.

“Honestly... no. We’ve talked so much about our problems with both our mentors and Black Canary and so on and so fort. I just want to, idk, chill, relax, not think about it, even if it’s only for a few hours. How about you, hermano? Any traumas, problems and sad stories you wanna share with the class?” Bart answered truthfully, a lopsided smile on his face.

Ed grinned and looked at the empty bench in front of them “Nah, I mean I’ve got some, we all do, but sharing is so exhausting.”

They stayed like that for a bit, in comfortable silence.

“I heard that there’s a crazy amount of pigeons in front of ‘Du-om-o de Mi-lano!” The speedster broke the silence, already in front of ‘the golden one’.

Ed raised his eyebrows, then laughed “Oh, you mean Duomo di Milano!”

“Yeah! That’s what I said!” Bart defended his terrible accent, faking offence, but happy to have made his... friend laugh.

“No, amigo, it’s ‘Duomo di Milano’, you hear the difference?” The Argentinian got up next to Bart.

“Actually, yeah! How do you know to pronounce Italian so well?” Bart was already excited.

Ed blushed a bit “It’s only a couple words, no need to be so impressed, but actually Argentinian Spanish can sound closer to Italian, rather than Spanish.”

Bart took out his phone and put in the address of the Cathedral and they headed that way through the picturesque streets of Milan.

“I never knew that, you don’t really talk a lot about your time in Argentina or Argentina in general.” Bart explained, his hand illustrating his words.

“Well, there’s not a lot to be said about my life in Argentina... but if you want to know more about Argentinian culture and the Argentinian language, you can always ask me.” The other teen offered.

Ed was never the type to open up about his past, but then again who was Bart to judge him about that? They were in the same boat. A thought still crossed his mind ‘I want to know more about you.’ But instead he said “Totally crash, amigo.”

They arrived at the Cathedral and there really were a lot of pigeons, but also a lot of tourists and people in general.

“Wait a second, I have an idea, be back in a flash.” Ed winked, while Bart groaned at the terrible joke.

Ed teleported. It was so fascinating to see the way Ed had grown into his power, at first he hated it, but now, it was as natural as breathing for him. He teleported next to a man selling popcorn and bought two of the small cartons.

He turned away to teleport back to Bart, when suddenly “Oh my gosh! Are you? Are you El Dorado?! Of the Outsiders?” A girl with ginger hair in a ponytail squealed.

Eduardo turned towards her and smiled both awkwardly and kindly, he hoped.

“It’s really you!” The girl was jumping up and down in excitement.

“Uh, yeah?” That sounded pathetic even to Eduardo’s own ears.

“I’m really sorry, but can I please take a pic with you?” The girl’s eyes were shining.

“Uh, yeah... I mean, yeah, of course!” He tried to sound more enthusiastic, the girl didn’t seem to mind.

They took a quick selfie in which Ed tried to not look incredibly awkward, while holding up two boxes of popcorn.

The girl thanked him profusely and asked if any of the Outsiders were here to which he answered, that he’s sorry, but he couldn’t share that info with her.

The ponytail girl said that it’s all right and that she was glad to have seen him, in Italy of all places. They said their goodbyes with the girl still freaking out.

Eduardo was glad, that the Outsiders were doing a good job, spreading the good word around and inspiring others and so on. But sometimes such attention was a bit... overwhelming. He said many times, that the hero lifestyle wasn’t for him and he still believed it. Ed still felt that he wasn’t cut out to be a hero. As much as he’d love to stand here and dwell on these thoughts, he should get back to Bart.

He loved hanging out with Bart, at first... he didn’t like him. Ed thought he was just another gringo, with probably the worst accent ever. In the beginning he thought that Bart was mocking him in a way, with “Amigo, that”, “Hermano, that”, but then he realised that Bart was a pretty awesome and genuine dude.

With Bart he felt like he could let loose, be himself, it felt good. Bart made him feel good and himself in ways he didn’t know another person could. He felt like he could share everything with him and it’ll be fine, not that he had such plans for the near future, but it felt nice.

The Latino teleported back to Bart, who was currently taking a selfie in front of the Cathedral and sending it to the Flash Family chat.

“Whoa, man, popcorn! So worth the wait! Bart grabbed one of the boxes.

“Yeah, sorry, got approached by uhh... fan.” Ed explained, tossing a popcorn into his mouth.

“Crash, man, I love talking to our fans.” Bart continued enthusiastically stuffing his face with popcorn.

Ed threw a couple on the ground and pigeons immediately gathered around them “That’s good, it’s just that... I don’t know, I don’t feel like I should have fans, I mean what have I done to deserve people looking up to me? And even if I have done stuff that deserve praise, shouldn’t I do more, do better? I just feel like I haven’t done enough...”

“Well you may feel like people shouldn’t be your fans, but pigeons sure as hell adore you.” Bart tried to lighten up the mood, while tugging the discussion of Ed’s insecurities for later.

Eduardo snapped out of his daze and looked around to find at least a dozen pigeons around him “Guess, I was throwing out more popcorn, than I thought.” He laughed.

“Ah!” A pigeon got bold and landed right on Eduardo’s arm where the popcorn where, then a bunch more started flying around him and one landed on his other arm and shoulder. Ed was both panicked, surprised and laughing uncontrollably.

‘Looks good, even when he’s covered in pigeons, huh.’ Bart thought while snapping a few dozen pictures “Come, Eddie-Boy! Smile for the camera!” All in all those pigeons were a great distraction.

Bart took Ed’s arm and got him away from the bids currently trying to nest in his hair.

“Hahah, oh that was adorable!” Bart laughed, he got his phone out and started scrolling through the pictures. He wheezed so hard at them.

“Let me see!” Eduardo said while ridding himself of feathers. He looked at the pictures “That’s a winner right there!” He pointed at a picture where a bird had just flown towards his face which resulted in him being a blur with a shocked expression on his face.

“Really? I like that one.” Bart opened one, where Ed was looking at the camera, a big grin on his face and slight panic in his eyes, while he had pigeons all around and on him, one of them was in the box of popcorn, happily munching.

Ed looked the other way, a slight blush blossoming over his cheeks “Yeah, that one’s good as well.”

Bart was happily scrolling through the photos “You should totally post that one! Also one of the distressed ones! Imagine the memes people will make!”

“Since when is it our job to knowingly provide the public with our embarrassing moments? And hey, for all you know it could cause a scandal. I can just hear G. Gordon Godfrey - ‘Our so called heroes aren’t even in the country! How are they supposed to protect us when they are too busy feeding the pigeons!’” Ed purposelessly making his voice have as much of an American accent as possible.

“Yes! Or ‘What are they teaching our children?! To throw our food at animals?! Next you’ll know they’ll be telling them to throw trash on the streets of our beautiful America!’” Bart continued, almost letting a tear fall out of the corner of his eye at the mention of dirtying their America.

The teens looked at each other, then started laughing even harder.

The speedster looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly starting to set, he looked at Ed who was still catching his breath. Bart checked the time on his phone - 18:40.

“Wow, time truly flies when you’re having a good time.” Bart mused.

“Hmm?” The Latino looked at Bart’s phone “Almost seven pm.”

Bart’s stomach grumbled, Ed looked at him, one eyebrow raised “Really?”

“Hey! It’s not my problem I run on superspeed!” Bart grinned, fingerguning.

“Guess not, I could also grab a bite... I think we passed a pizzeria on our way here?” Ed wondered.

“Lead the way, amigo.” Bart bowed down like a gentleman.

The teleporter rolled his eyes, but still blushed a bit.

They walked side by side for a few minutes, until Bart pointed at a pizzeria close by and ran that way, dragging Ed with him. Good think he was making sure to run like a regular person.

The pizzeria was quite picturesque, small wooden tables with white tablecloths, flowers in the middle and wooden chairs.

A waiter quickly took them to a table outside.

Bart took one of the menus “Ohhh, what should I get? Maybe a Capricciosa or a Romana or maybe go classic with a Margherita? What about you?”

Ed loved how excited Bart could be over the simplest things sometimes “Mmm, maybe a vegetarian pizza?”

“Vegetarian also sounds good! Deciding is so hard, wish I could just take all of them.” Bart declared.

Ed took one of the red flowers out of the vase “I mean, you can certainly stomach all of them.”

The brown haired boy looked at Ed. He was holding the red flower between his fingers spinning it around, the sunset was casting beautiful shades of gold, red and orange on his skin. Ed met his eyes and smiled. Bart could stare at him looking like that forever.

“So, did you chose anything?” Their waiter, as if appearing out of nowhere, asked.

That startled both of them, Ed coughed and looked the other way and Bart burned a bright red.

“Uh, yeah I’ll have a large Capricciosa and a soda...” Bart trailer off.

“And I’ll take a large vegetarian pizza and also a soda...” Ed quickly continued.

The waiter smiled and said he’ll bring up them up, when they’re done. A few moment later he came back with their drinks.

Ed looked at the Cathedral, turned back to Bart and pointed at it. The speedster turned around to look at it. The Cathedral looked absolutely stunning like something out of a postcard, the beams from the sun were being reflected by the countless windows and painted the square. It was truly beautiful, but when Bart looked out of the corner of his eye, he could’ve sworn Ed was looking at him, even if for a split second.

The green eyed teen turned back around at took a sip out of his soda “How’s everything at the centre?”

Ed looked at him “Honestly, I don’t know, a mix of good and bad, I suppose? I mean, we’ve been making huge progress with a lot of the metas, but some of them are still scared and don’t want to accept their powers. We get new metas all the time, I’m struggling to make room for everybody as it is... We need more funding, I hate to say it, but Granny Goodness was our biggest sponsor, we are part of STAR labs, but not part of their funding, well not a big part, we get some money, but certainly not enough for all the newcomers...” The Latino stopped abruptly.

He smiled apologetically “I’m, sorry I know all this talk of money and funding isn’t really interesting...” He trailed off.

Bart jumped in “No! You know you can tell me anything and I would love to know more about the centre, not only the good, but also the bad.” He smiled.

Ed sighed and opened his mouth, but then “Sorry for the wait, gentlemen! Here are the Capricciosa and the vegetarian pizza, if there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to call!”

They thanked the waiter. Bart immediately dug in and was already three pieces in, while Ed was taking his first bite.

“Slow down there, amigo, it won’t go anywhere.” The teleporter laughed.

Bart wiped his mouth with the napkin “Yeah, yeah, gotta be reminded sometimes, you know in the apocalypse my favourite food was... food.” He shrugged, while smiling.

Ed looked at him apologetically, then grinned “Well, good thing you came to us, no idea what I would do without you... also you completely missed all the tomato sauce around your mouth.” He gave him another napkin.

Bart blushed at Ed’s words, but was also really happy, because he also didn’t know what he would do without everybody, the League, the Team, the Outsiders and... Ed.

Ed ate a slice of pizza.

“What about your father? Isn’t good ol’ doctor Dorado any help at the centre? I mean, he did found it with you?” Bart took a sip out of his soda.

Ed sighed “I don’t know, hermano. Me and dad we don’t really click? I suppose, it’s hard getting to know your son at 45 and respectfully your dad at 16... He doesn’t really help me with the centre, I have to do all of it on my own, well not all of it I have you and Neut, of course. There are just so many other things to consider like all of the legal stuff, there is so much paperwork! Also parents and psychologists and sometimes psychiatrists and I have to make sure everybody is safe and happy and comfortable.”

Bart cut him off “Geez, Ed, I didn’t know you had that much to take care of.” He felt a bit guilty, because he was overjoyed when Ed became part of the team, but if he really was that busy...

Ed clenched his hand around his almost empty can of soda “And I always feel like I’m not doing enough. Is the centre good enough, am I good enough for the Outsiders? Because I still don’t think the “hero life” is for me... I love being part of the team, but am I a good enough part?”

Bart smiled brightly “You know, I think... I think you’re not giving yourself enough credit.”

Ed looked at him, confused “What do you mean?”

“Just... You’ve done so much! You were talking about a place, that can help young people deal with their powers even before you had full grasp of yours! You are going there every day to give them advice and a safe space to not only get a hold of their powers, but also share how they feel and discuss their traumas and so on. You joined a public superhero team just to give them inspiration. So don’t sell yourself so short, you’ve done a lot and you’re continuing to do it every day.”

“Wow, I uh... I don’t know what to say, thank you... you’re pretty incredible.” Ed looked Bart directly in his eyes. “Why are you always so good at reassuring me?” He grinned.

With Bart it was always different, because whenever he would say Ed was doing a good job or that he was doing well, he couldn’t help but believe him.

“What can I say, amigo? Not only am I incredibly good looking, I’m also an incredible friend.” He grinned, eyes closed and hand under his chin for dramatic effect.

The Argentinian smiled contentedly and agreed “Really though! And having you around when you can be in the center is always good, all the stress from dealing with everything seems to lessen when you’re around.” He smiled shyly at the last part.

Bart blushed “Well, I love spending time at the centre with all the metas and helping in whichever way I can and... being with you, of course.” He grinned.

Ed blushed a really bright red and tried to hide it by pretending to wipe his mouth with his napkin. “You know, you’re the only person I can talk with... like that.”

Bart slowly put his hand on top of Ed’s “Yeah, me too.”

Both of them smiled with light blushes on their cheeks.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 21, 19:00 GMT+2**

“Looking sharp there, boys!” Cassie smiled widely, fingerguning.

Kid Flash and Blue Beatle weren’t so sure about that. Because of their secret identities they had to wear their costumes (or at least the mask in Kid Flash’s case) under their tuxes. They felt a bit... silly.

Jaime looked at Wonder girl “You sure about that?”

She was wearing a form fitting, deep red dress without sleeves, that was cut right above the knees. She looked incredible. Though everybody remembers the relief they felt when she finally chose between the dress and the tux, not because she chose the dress, but because she chose something.

“Dont sweat it, Jaime! Get it? ‘Cause you’re wearing both the costume and the tux!” The blonde laughed hard at her own joke.

“Yeah, Cassie, I got it.” The blue superhero replied dryly.

“Forager also feels weird wearing something over his shell, but if it is a human custom, then Forager doesn’t mind.” The alien supplied, while running his four hands over the shirt and jacket.

M’gann smiled “You look great, Forager.”

“So the only people still missing are El Dorado and Static right?” Beast Boy asked tapping his food impatiently and looking around anxiously.

They had decided to meet in one of the hotel’s spare conference rooms with the hotel’s approval, of course.

The Martian walked over to her little brother and put her hand on his shoulder “Don’t worry, Gar, its only 7:15, I’m sure they’ll be here any second.”

Just after she said that, Ed and Virgil came in through the door.

“Sorry for being late, but Mr. Static over here first couldn’t decide between ties, then it was ‘With hat or no hat? With hat or no hat?” Ed rolled his eyes, while fixing his own gold coloured tie. 

“Hey! The hat’s like an integral part of my look!” Virgil defended himself.

“You’re going to a _formal_ event!” Ed retorted.

Cyborg supplied his opinion “If you ask me, good thing you decided to ditch it.”

“See!” El Dorado said while gesturing towards Vic.

“Whatever, man.” Static replied, visibly grumpy.

“Look, everybody, I can understand that some of you are nervous and unsure of what to do or how to act tonight. But remember just relax and be yourself. Don’t over exaggerate, if you start a conversation with somebody, but don’t know about the topic it’s best to drop it, be nice and if you don’t feel like it, don’t mingle, there’s a lot of us here, so you can always go up to somebody and hang out. We want good press, so be nice!” Garfield’s pep talk wasn’t much of a pep talk, but it did ease a lot of the Outsiders’ worries.

M’gann looked at Conner, that proud sparkle shining in her eyes.

El Dorado went over to Bart.

Bart grinned and elbowed Ed playfully “Lookin’ good there, amigo.”

And he really did, he was just wearing a simple black tux with a dark yellow (kinda gold) tie, but it fit in all the right places.

“You clean up nicely.” Ed winked, even though he was blushing hard.

Bart was wearing the same as him a simple black tux with a red tie, but he looked great. ‘There really was something about seeing a guy in a suit, huh...’ Ed thought.

Bart also blushed.

The white Martian looked in their direction and smiled gently.

Garfield looked at his watch “Okay, guys we’ve got ten minutes before this thing starts, everybody knows what to do right?”

“Yeah, Gar, calm down, promise we won’t blow anything up.” Cyborg rolled his eyes.

“And even if we do, I’ll just work my charm on them!” Bart wiggled his eyebrows, while pulling on his imaginary suspenders.

That did not ease any of Beast Boy’s worries.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 21, 19:30 GMT+2**

The Outsiders plus Miss Martian had to get to the front of the hotel to pretend they were just now arriving? Honestly the whole ordeal was pretty useless and stupid, but they had to interact with the media waiting outside.

They went right to where the “red carpet” and all the news reporters were.

Garfield turned around and looked at his team “Okay! Big smiles, everyone!”he winked at the end.

The others smiled uncomfortably.

The moment the team stepped into “the limelight” a hoard of reporters came onto them bombarding them with questions.

One woman was louder and shoved her microphone in Tara’s face “How do you feel now that you are a princess with no country?”

Tara’s happy expression dimmed and she casted her eyes down “No comment.” She replied, looking up and with newfound intensity in her eyes at the reporter. The message was clear ‘No more questions.’

Beast boy was quick to cover for her and take the attention of the reporters away from the former princess.

The team was quickly separated most of them were discreetly trying to get inside the hotel while answering as few questions as possible.

Ed, while not looking forward to being interviewed, wouldn’t mind answering a few questions if it meant he could explain that they were planing on opening a new centre for meta teens in Europe. The news were already announced a month back, but the more people knew about it the better. He was currently trying to get one in every major city in America, maybe at some point in every state. They had opened one more in Central City, but he also wanted to make them permanent, because as of right now the centres were only temporary.

The Argentinian wasn’t exactly nervous to talk in front of a camera, because of the centres he had to talk to strangers every day and also hold speeches and arrange things and so on. He’d learned to be comfortable in front of an audience, even if he couldn’t see them.

A reporter with a beautiful long dress and bright pink hair approached him out of nowhere and suddenly he had a microphone shoved in his face.

She smiled brightly and winked “Hello viewers! Here with us right now is El Dorado!”

Ed smiled and waved awkwardly.

“Now our viewers here are just dying to know! What exactly is going on in your tower in Hollywood? I mean a group of teenagers all living together! It must be crazy! Love scandals, parties! Tell us all the great gossip!” The reporter was overly enthusiastic to the point of being fake.

Ed thought back to all the “crazy drama” that occurs in the Outcast’s home, only thing that came to mind is their movie and game nights.

The Argentinian smiled politely “Well, most of the time we are too tired to really have the time for scandals, but something that’s more interesting is that the new meta-human youth center in Sweden, Stockholm will be up and running in a month.” He grinned.

The pink haired reporters face fell, though she did try to keep her smile on, but it was obvious she was annoyed “Wow, that’s crazy...” She turned quickly towards the camera and bit Ed a quick goodbye, realising she won’t be getting anything out of him.

The tan teen was definitely a bit annoyed, but not surprised, most news outlets were always looking for gossip. He continued his short walk towards the entrance of the event.

“Kid Flash! What happened to the previous Kid Flash?” A reporter shouted at Bart, while he was explaining to another one, that no he didn’t almost die that one time.

The question made him choke on his words, the other reporters noticed and also started asking him questions about the other Kid Flash. Bart quickly and while giving out excuses shuffled into the hotel.

Just as he entered he noticed Ed a couple feet away from him, his expression the same one as Bart’s.

“I’ll take it you’re also having a good time.” The shorter teenager smiled, while fixing his tie.

“I’m still trying to stay positive for the rest of the night.” Ed smiled at Bart, even though it was a little strained.

“Yeah... you and me both. Right now though, I’m totally feeling the mode.” Bart looked around and suddenly grabbed Ed’s sleeve “Eddie, look! There’s a huge table filled with bite sized food!” He was smiling, while showing how little the food was with his thumb and pointer finger.

“Didn’t we just eat like a couple hours ago?” Ed was always impressed with the speedster’s appetite.

They went over to the table, Bart quickly took a small plate and filled it with all kinds of finger food. At the same time Ed took a fancy looking glass filled with punch and looked around the room.

The event had just started, so the room was still pretty empty, safe for the hotel staff, a few other guests invited by the prime minister and the band, which consisted currently of a piano player, but places for other players and even a singer could be seen. The music was pretty, but kinda bland, like elevator music, it was just a background.

The other Outsiders had yet to make their way towards the ballroom, but Ed suspected that Forager and Tara were going to be joining them soon.

The speedster looked at Ed and for the god knew which time that night appreciated the way he looked, he quickly swallowed a mini sandwich he was eating and turned towards the Argentinian “You should totally try this little one with the orange stuff inside, it’s sweet, yet fruity!”

He held the little treat up, offering it to Ed.

For a moment too long Ed looked at Bart with a dumbfounded expression, the sudden thought of leaning down and eating it from Bart’s hand came to him, he felt all of his blood change course and go to his cheeks. The teen quickly took the food with his hand and ate it, desperately trying to will down his intense blush.

“It’s good.” He quickly added while giving an awkward thumbs up.

Bart raised his eyebrow, but still smiled.

The “golden one” took a small gulp from his glass, still trying to calm down his burning cheeks ‘What’s wrong with me? Only Bart can make me like this...”

“I’ve forgotten how obnoxious and insensitive reporters can be!” The former princess grumbled, already having reached the table and grabbing a small pastry. She leaned against the wooden table and crossed her arms.

Ed looked at her “So the interviews are going well.” He offered her a napkin.

“Garfield is doing just fine, while Cyborg is trying to stop the interviewers from overwhelming Forager... Superboy looked like he really didn’t want to be there.” The blonde took the napkin and placed a few pastries in it. “From the way things are looking the others will be following us here pretty soon.”

She quickly ate one more small dessert and pointed towards Ed and Bart “You two did good coming here so fast.”

Kid Flash flashed her a blinding grin and pretended to remove dust from his jacket “Being fast is kinda our specialty.” He turned towards Ed and winked “Right, amigo?”

A blush crept across his cheeks again ‘When will this end?!’ He thought, while quickly plastering a smile a giving Terra a thumbs up.

‘He’s so cute...’ Bart thought, but quickly banished the thought away.

The princess looked at him quizzically, but just shrugged.

Her gaze turned towards the entrance, some people had come through, the room was slowly filling out. The bright red of Forager’s shell was not hard to miss. Tara waved “Vic, Forager, over here!”

The grim expression on Vic’s face was becoming more and more visible as he approached the other Outsiders. The alien, on the other hand was rubbing his hands nervously.

“What got his gears so tightly wind up?” Ed leaned towards Forager.

“Victor Stone became upset after a reporter asked Victor Stone what happened with Victor Stone’s football career and then another one asked if Victor Stone felt like a freak, because of Victor Stone’s appearance.” Forager explained.

Everybody winced.

“Harsh.” Bart commented.

The tan teen turned towards Forager “What about you, buddy? Everything good?”

The alien rubbed his hands and looked down “Forager would be happy to explain Forager’s culture to the reporters, but the reporters asked if Forager is in a relationship and if Forager finds humans appealing...”

“Yeah... they do that.” Ed looked at him apologetically.

Kid Flash tried to cheer him up “They don’t mean any harm...”

More and more people were coming into the room. Virgil and Blue Beetle were one of the first ones to enter. Virgil hastily turned his head, obviously looking for the others. He spotted the other teens near the table and together with Jaime quickly walked to them.

“Good thing Gar is out there.” Virgil ran a hand through his hair.

“God, this is like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.” Ed said. “What would our name be? Abused by reporters Anonymous?” He was moving his glass with his hand, stirring the already lukewarm punch.

Bart laughed.

Ed felt something akin to pride in his chest at making Bart laugh.

“So come on, amigos, share with the group what happened to you out there with the scary and noisy interviewers!” The speedster threw a cookie in the air and caught it with his mouth.

Jaime crossed his arms over his chest “Even after two years the Reach is still a pretty popular topic.”

Bart put a hand on his shoulder.

Virgil sighed “Everything was going on fine, until one of them asked me to show off my power, but I panicked, demagnetised some part of their equipment.”

The peer counselor slung an arm across Virgil’s shoulders “Good job, man, you took one of them down. Our enemy will soon be slain.” He had a determined fire in his eyes.

Static pushed his arm away “You’re a real hoot, Ed. But seriously, people are always filming us, taking pictures of us and so on. How come I suck at interviews?”

Bart shrugged, and while chewing said “Well, when people are usually filming us, we don’t exactly have the time to stop and answer a few questions. We’re focused on, you know, saving them.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” Virgil took a small sandwich, defeat evident in his eyes.

Victor looked around “This place sure filled up.”

Even more important looking people wearing suits or beautiful dresses had come into the room.

Virgil looked at his phone “8:56, shouldn’t this whole thing be starting soon.

There was a silent agreement, that everybody couldn’t wait for the event to be over.

Wonder girl entered the room soon after. She waved and speed walked to her teammates.

When she arrived, the blonde quickly took a sweet from the table and popped it in her mouth. She said with her mouth full “If one more person asks me how I do my hair or makeup, I’m gonna flip.” She finished that sentence and ate a cracker with something grey on top.

“I mean! They don’t ask me about the missions or anything like that! It’s all ‘Is your lipstick punch-proof?’ Like what is that even supposed to mean?” She continued, while leaning against the table, her arms crossed

The other outsiders winced in sympathy.

“Sorry, man” Vic rubbed the back of his neck.

Cassie sighed “Eh, it is what it is, I guess... by your expressions, I’m not the only one who had a jolly good time out there.” She emphasised how happy she was by swinging her arm which was folded at the elbow, her hand in a fist.

Suddenly a huge crowd entered the ballroom, the leader of it was Garfield. He had a huge grin and looked more than happy to talk to anybody or answer questions.

At the end of the crowd were Superboy and the disguised Miss Martian. The white alien was smiling, even though it looked a bit forced and tired, while Conner looked like he wanted to go home immediately. All of the Outsiders were surprised how long he’d lasted outside.

M’gann laughed and looked Conner in the eyes " _Thank you, you did great out there._ " She said telepathically.

Conner smiled.

The Outsiders were watching their gentle exchange of love. “God, I _need_ a girlfriend.” Virgil’s never ending whining about that certain topic cut through the silence.

Beast boy quickly spotted the other Outsiders and walked over to them, leaving the group of people behind, a slight bounce to his steps.

He winked “So, how you guys doing? Everything going well?” He straightened out his jacket and brushed of invisible dust off his shoulders.

The team gave each other side eyes and smiled nervously. Bart gave him a thumbs up.

Garfield gave them a half smile “So no too hot?” He nodded once and put his hands in his pockets “Don’t worry, there won’t be any more reporters for the rest of the night, well a few at the opening ceremony and speech of the primer minister, but all we have to do there is smile and nod.”

“Speaking of the ceremony, shouldn’t it be starting soon?” Jaime took a sip of punch.

Tera was staring intently at his lips. “Isn’t it weird to have it on your mouth?”

“Pardon?”

“The mask, isn’t it weird?” She explained further.

Jaime put a finger to his lips “Eh, not really, I mean I can’t really feel it? It’s like a part of me, second skin sort of way.” He tried to explain.

Tara narrowed her eyes “Interesting.”

M’gann and Superboy approached the group.

The Martian put her hand on Garfield’s shoulder “Come on, team, let’s get to the stage, it’s starting soon.”

The Outsiders started to walk towards the stage, it was a small stage, enough to fit them, the primer minister and her husband. The lights were very bright.

They walked over to the security guard, who opened up a crimson coloured rope. The superheroes were staying in a small, separated from the attendees, space. Mostly waiting for the prime minister to call for them on stage.

A crowd of reporters and other guests had already gathered in front of the stage. The prime minister, Giorgia Cancio and her husband, Matteo Cancio were climbing on stage, the guests started clapping.

The politicians smiled in front the microphones and waved.

Giorgia cleaned her throat and the speech started “Thank you everybody for coming tonight, we are more than...”

Soon after she started her speech Bart tuned her out and started looking for other things to occupy his attention with.

Kid Flash looked around the room, quickly noticing a woman in the back arguing with a waiter, well more like yelling at him, he squinted in order to try and read her lips, something about ‘Gluten? Oh! Gluten free...’ he thought.

Bart moved on, he looked up at the big, glass and crystal chandelier, it was glowing in soft yellows and whites. A small, dangling crystal, that was spinning caught his attention for a bit.

His eyes soon landed on Ed, Bart was looking at him out of the corner of his eye. _His eyes have been landing on Ed a lot those past couple of months._

The Argentinian was standing beside him, he was looking down, probably at the colourful tiles, that made up the floor, occasionally he would look up at the prime minister.

Bart liked looking at Ed, he had this shine and drive in his eyes, this drive to just be and do good. It was something Bart had soon noticed after spending time with Ed. It was something so beautiful to see. Where Bart had come from (the Future) people’s eyes were dead, given up, moded, they didn’t care about doing good, they just wanted to survive.

It was kinda shocking how that moody kid had grown up into such a compassionate person. He was probably always like that, it was just hidden under all that angst and daddy issues.

Suddenly he didn’t have the desire to look away, he was content like that, just looking at Ed.

Ed absentmindedly licked his dry lips.

A light brush crept across the speedster’s cheeks and a stray thought wandered inside his mind ‘I wonder how they feel.’ He caught himself softly running his finger across his own lips, he quickly dropped his hand and his blush intensified. Bart quickly averted his eyes away and towards the stage, trying to focus on the prime minister.

El Dorado had felt somebody’s gaze on him, finding out it was Bart had made him feel... _something_... something warm inside his chest, like happiness. He smiled slightly.

“And now for our guests of honor, the Outsiders!” Giorgia introduced them and steeped away from the microphone, while clapping.

“That’s our cue, team.” Garfield started walking up the three steps to the stage.

They all climbed on, the prime minister thanked them one more time while shaking their hands. They took a few pictures with way too happy smiles and got off the stage. It all felt longer than it actually was.

When the crowd had cleared out the prime minister approached one more time, she smiled warmly “I hope you’ve had a good time so far.”

Garfield, as their leader, smiled with all the charm of a famous actor “Of course, Mrs. Cancio, it’s all been wonderful.”

Her eyes softened “Well, the real fun begins now anyway, people always feel way more relaxed after the reporters leave.” She winked at the end.

The woman clapped “Make sure you have fun, this party is in your honour after all!” She bid them goodbye and walked away.

“Well you heard the lady, time to have fun!” Garfield said trying to get his team excited.

They appreciated his enthusiasm and tried to match it, I mean they can stick together, the food was good, the view was beautiful and eventually the soft background music will turn more energetic. All in all, they are sure they can manage.

Ed leaned slightly down towards Bart “Hey, I wanna get a breather out on the balcony? Want to tag along?”

Bart winked with a smile on his face “You know it, amigo.”

Just as they were about to split into small groups, each headed toward a different part of the room, two women and a guy, about 16 or 17 approached them.

The women had an air of authority around them. One of them was taller, with dark black hair and a deep red business suit, the other was shorter and curvier wearing a long, blue dress. They had wedding bands on.

The boy was standing between them, he was tall, half a head taller than Ed, wearing a black suit sporting a dark turquoise tie, he had an undercut and really dark, curly hair. He had a slight tan with a dusting of freckles and bright hazel eyes. His smile was charming, a dimple on each side.

The taller woman smiled kindly “I’m sorry to bother you, but my name is Liliana, this is my wife, Emily and our son Antonio.” Emily smiled brightly.

“Just Toni also works.” Their son supplied, he quickly looked over all the Outsiders, one of them catching his eye.

Liliana continued “I just wanted to thank you personally for saving my sister, Giorgia and her husband. I don’t know what I would’ve done, if I had lost her.”

Her wife put a hand on her shoulder.

“Luckily, that didn’t happen, because of you, so one more time, thank you.”

She shook Garfield’s hand.

The meta human smiled brightly “It’s what we do best.”

“Indeed.” Toni piped up. His arms were crossed over his chest, his smile even more charming than before. The Italian was looking straight at Ed.

The women excused themselves and the Outsiders started to walk over.

Bart and Ed headed towards the balcony.

“Was it just me or was that guy staring at you?” The speedster asked Ed, not quite understanding why that made him so annoyed.

Ed raised his shoulders “Probably not honestly, I mean why would he be looking at me anyways?”

‘Why wouldn’t he?’ Bart thought, still a little bitter at the guy. ‘Maybe I’m just imagining stuff...’

“Excuse me.” A voice cut through Bart’s thoughts.

The superheroes turned around... it was Toni.

‘Shame he had to turn around, he had such a cute butt.’ The Italian thought while looking absentmindedly at Ed.

He had a hand in the pocket of his dress pants. “Sorry to disturb you, but you’re Kid Flash and El dorado, right?”

“Yeah.” The shorter of the two superheroes answered, some definitive dislike in his voice “How can we help you, _Antonio_?”

‘I’ve never acted like that before, what’s wrong with me?’

Antonio glared slightly at Bart, but only for a split second.

The Argentinian just kind of looked between the two of them.

The Italian cleared his throat “Actually, I also wanted to thank you for saving my aunt.” He gave his hand out for a handshake towards Ed.

“As Beast Boy said, it’s just what we do.” Ed shook his hand.

‘A cute butt and a cute accent! Perfect.’ Antonio was already forming a plan in his head.

Toni’s and Bart’s handshake wasn’t as warm, they looked into each other’s eyes, annoyance clear behind the smiles.

Toni smiled warmly and continued talking “Anyways, Eduardo, can I call you Eddie by the way?”

‘Dude thinks he’s sooo slick’ Bart thought and rolled his eyes.

“I guess so?” Ed shrugged, still not understanding why this guy wanted to talk to him.

The guy grinned “As I was saying, Eddie, before you were a hero, you opened a centre for meta-humans, right?”

“Yeah...” He still didn’t understand where this guy was getting at.

“I’m sure it was so hard to do everything on your own, speeches, counselling, events, setting it up, promotion-“

Ed smiled “Well, I was never really absolutely alone, there were volunteers and Kid flash over here has been helping me since the beginning.” Toni noticed that when Ed turned towards the speedster a warmth filled his eyes.

Bart smirked and looked the Italian in the eyes, pride evident in his.

Toni subtly glared towards Bart, then quickly put on the smile back on his face “Yes, of course... I’m just going to cut to the chase, my mothers own an advertising agency, you might have heard of it before, “L.E. ads”.

Ed was quite surprised “They are one of the biggest agencies working right now, I tried to get them to advertise the new center in Sweden, but they never wrote me back.”

‘Crap!’ Thought Toni “Uh-well, they do get a lot of clients and offers each day, so sometimes, some of them get lost... or buried under the others, please excuse us.” He apologised, even adding a slight bow.

Ed opened his mouth to say something, but Antonio quickly cut him off “What I’m offering right now, is an opportunity to work with us, as you might be aware, we don’t only use regular ads, we also organise events etc. We can organise speeches, billboards, ads on tv and so on.

The Argentinian was truly dumbfounded. “Might I ask, why?”

“My mothers will be more than happy to help the heroes who saved my aunt and uncle.” Toni finished pride all over his face.

Ed looked at Bart with a conflicted expression, then back at Toni “While that is all well and good... I just don’t think we can afford you, no offence, the centre just doesn’t have the resources for such... um... extravagant?... advertising. But, thank you nonetheless.”

Antonio stepped closer to Ed “It will all be free of charge, of course.”

Bart’s annoyance was growing with every word that came out of this Italian prick’s mouth.

El Dorado was quick to retaliate “Oh, no, I’m sorry, we can’t accept something like that.”

“The centre accepts money, food, volunteers and so on all the time right? Think of this as just another form of charity.” He grinned, his eyes shining in a way that unsettled Bart.

“Yeah, but what you’re offering is quite huge, I just don’t think it’s right to-“

“I insist!” Toni had a hand over his chest, it was almost theatrical. His eyes relaxed “Why don’t you join me this evening, we can discuss this over and see if by the end of it, I’ll be successful in changing your mind.” He smirked at the end, confidence dripping from him. He was closer now, definitely entering Ed’s personal space.

At this point the speedster wasn’t just annoyed with this guy, he was angry, really angry... but damn it all, this was a golden opportunity (no pun intended).

The taller of the two heroes looked at Bart and was once again about to deny him, but Kid flash cut him out “You should talk to him, the deal he is making is great.”

“Yes, but-“

“Come on, Ed, think of how much that can help the centre.” Bart smiled, looking Ed in the eyes.

The Argentinian sighed, he’d much rather stay with Bart, than this Italian guy... but such advertising could really help them in the long run... And denying him once more would be quite rude and they are here to make a good impression and all that, he still wasn’t sure about accepting the deal, but he’ll spent some time with the guy, then he’ll politely deny or accept the offer.

“Okay, fine.”

Antonio’s smile grew “Perfect.” He threw his hand on Ed’s shoulder and pulled him away.

Ed said goodbye to Bart.

While they were walking away Toni turned around and looked Bart in the eyes, his grin predatory.

The speedster saw red and was so close to just grabbing the Italian douche and leaving him in Antarctica, instead he turned around and headed towards the balcony. There were a few people already there, smoking and talking. The fresh, night air made him cool down a bit, now he just felt a bit sad.

He leaned against the railing and looked at the garden. ‘What a prick...’ He slumped further down against the cold metal, his chin on it ‘Why am I overreacting so much? It’s just a guy talking... flirting with Ed and... touching him... ughhhhhg!’ The speedster put his hands on his head, annoyed at just _feeling_ so much. ‘Goddamn it, Ed.’

In his sulk Bart didn’t hear another person entering the balcony.

“What’s got you so moded, amigo?” A familiar voice said.

Bart turned around quickly “What? Me? Moded? No way, hermano. I’m feeling A-okay!” For emphasis on how good his mood was, he plastered a big grin on his face.

Jaime raised his eyebrow, his expression sort of exhausted, as if he’s had to do this a million times “Ese, we’ve been friends since like forever, you can tell me, if something’s wrong.” He joined Bart at the railing.

“It just... jeez, Blue, I don’t even know what’s wrong!”

Jaime hummed “Well, trace your steps back, what happened?”

Bart looked away from his fellow Outsider, sulking “Ed...” he mumbled.

“Edu? Why? Did he do something?” Jaime would be quite surprised if he did, considering how close the speedster and Ed had grown.

“No! Nothing like that... he’s just with... some Italian guy.” Bart didn’t know why he felt so embarrassed to admit it out loud.

Jaime had a puzzled expression on his face trying to work it out. “Wait, you’re annoyed ‘cause Edu’s with some guy?” Suddenly it was like a switch flipped inside his head “Dude, are you jealous?”

Bart moved away from the railing like it was scorching hot “Wha-? No! No! I’m not jealous!... well, maybe, I don’t know, okay!” The brunette leaned against Jaime.

Blue beetle thought for a second, then spoke up “Ese, do you remember how I would get when Traci would go out with Arrowette, before we started dating.”

Bart moved away from Jaime and looked him in the eyes “Yeah, of course, you would get all annoyed, mopey and would rant about it a lot.” Bart rolled his eyes at the memory.

A slight blush coloured the latino’s cheeks, he coughed once “Uhm, yeah... yeah, do you remember why exactly I got so uhm mopey?”

The speedster was playing with a loose threat of his suit “Of course, I do, hermano, you liked her.”

Blue nudged Bart gently with his elbow “What I’m getting at is, do you like him in the same way I like Traci?”

The brunette was quite surprised by that question, he’d never really thought about it, I mean, he liked Ed, of course he did... but as more than a friend? He looked his best friend in the eyes “How do you know when you like someone?”

Jaime rubbed the back of his head “Well, jealousy, obviously, but you also want to spent time with them and just being near them feels good. You might imagine what holding hands with them or kissing them or cuddling with them might feel like... you know...” He had grown a little red by the end of it, good thing it couldn’t be seen from under the suit.

Bart’s cheeks very also a bit tinted with colour, because, yeah, he would like to do all of those things with Ed. He chuckled “For a speedster, I’m pretty slow, huh?”

Blue laughed “Yeah, ese, I agree.”

They looked at the scenery before them, it was already dark out, the moon and the stars were creating a beautiful shine on the garden before them.

“You know, I’ve never... liked anybody before... apocalypse and all that, it’s weird, I like the feeling, but it’s a bit annoying being so emotional...” An airy chuckle left him at the end.

Jaime bumped his shoulder against Bart’s “That’s a good way to describe it, hermano. So what’cha gonna do about it?”

“I- I’m not sure, I want to do something about it, just not sure... do you even think I have a chance with Ed?” He was looking at the moon.

Blue shrugged “Well, that’s something you should be asking Edu, you won’t know unless you give it a shot.” He worried his lip with his teeth, then continued “And even if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay, but I think it might. Call it scarab senses.” He grinned at end.

Bart smiled, feeling better, he was relieved now that he finally understood his feeling. ‘I like Ed... there could be worse things, like an apocalyptic future where humanity is entirely controlled by evil aliens.’ He looked at Jaime and smiled “Let’s head inside, amigo, I’m dying for something to eat.”

“Lead the way, hermano.”

The two superheroes entered the room, coming into the too bright yellow light felt a bit blinding. They headed towards the big table filled with little snacks, but came into a sudden halt, when they saw something.

There they were, Antonio and Ed, they both had glasses of punch, Antonio was too close to Ed and chuckling about something, while Ed was smiling politely, the whole image was a bit annoying, but not something too offensive, until Toni put his hand around Ed’s waist and brought him closer whispering something into his ear. He then moved farther away from the young superhero, but kept his arm around his waist.

“Damn, Edu looks like he _really_ doesn’t want to be there.” Jaime supplied, while putting his arm on Bart’s shoulder.

The brunette had defiantly grown annoyed, his almost good mood was crushed faster than the Flash himself. He clenched his fists and huffed. “Blue, can we _please_ go some place else?”

“Of course, hermano.” They hurried over to the other side of the big room.

All throughout the night, Bart would catch glimpses of the annoying Italian and Ed talking and so on, at some point the guy even asked Ed out to dance. At that Bart was quite annoyed, but also just sad and mopey. He just wanted to lay somewhere and not have to think about it. Good thing he was good at pretending everything was fine.

Jaime was a good distraction, the rest of the team as well, while he hadn’t managed to completely take his mind off the situation, it was still okay.

“That Italian guy sure has it out for Ed, huh?” Cassie pipped.

‘Great, my _favourite_ topic.’ Bart thought.

“Yeah, Ed’s probably so done with him by now, probably keeps it up, only for the good media or something. They guy might go whine to his aunt, the prime minister, if Ed leaves him.” Virgil added.

Cassie wiggled her eyebrows “You never know, he might actually like the attention.”

Jaime quickly tried to dissolve the situation “Oh, come on, look at him he looks miserable, right, hermano?” He nudged Bart.

“Yeah, _totally_.”

Cassie rolled her eyes “Eh, what do you know anyways, the guy’s quite handsome and Ed’s last boyfriend was... actually I don’t know when, has he had one?” She looked at Virgil, expecting his reply.

“Hey, don’t look at me, you know Ed isn’t exactly an open book about his private life or life in Argentina and even if he had told me, maybe there’s a reason he hasn’t told you.” Static pointed at the blonde.

She glared at him “Not cool, man.”

He raised his shoulders.

Bart sighed and Jaime put his arm around his shoulders.

Kid flash looked once again at the general direction where Ed and Toni were, but they were gone, he took a quick look around the room and they were nowhere to be seen.

“They’re gone.” He said while still looking around the room.

Wonder girl grinned, while nudging Virgil in the chest “Maybe they went somewhere to make out.” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Virgil gently pushed her away “Thanks for the visual, Cas.”

She winked.

Jaime quickly joined in “Yeah, right, Edu obviously wasn’t interested in the guy. Probably tried to get away, but the dude followed him.”

“Tomayto, tomahto.” Cassie was smiling like she was victorious.

Blue beetle rolled his eyes.

On the outside Bart’s expression was carefree, but on the inside he was a mess of emotions, annoyance, worry, sadness, maybe a bit of anger. ‘Be rational, man. You’re not even dating, calm down... I never imagined, that having a crush could be so moded.’

Static smiled smugly and raised one eyebrow “Why are you so invested in Ed’s love life anyways? Having problems with Tim?”

‘Virgil to the rescue.’ Thought Bart.

Cassie huffed and glared vigorously “I’ll have you know, me and Tim are more than fine!”

Virgil was still grinning while he raised his arms up in mock surrender.

Bart sighed and got lost in thought, drowning out their bickering.

Jaime looked at him, pity clear on his face.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 22, 3:16 GMT+2**

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m beat.” Beast Boy said while waiting for the whole team to gather in the lobby, just outside the room, where the event had taken place.

The team had said their goodbyes and well wishes to the prime minister and were more than ready to leave.

The event/party still hadn’t ended, but most people had already left and the young heroes were eager to get out of the uncomfortable suits and fake smiles and into bed.

Almost everybody had come back, only Ed was still missing.

The Outsiders’ night had gone with various degrees of success, some had even talked to a few people without completely embarrassing themselves. Those small victories were not enough to make them stay until the complete end.

Victor had his arms crossed over his chest, he looked completely exhausted “Can’t wait to crash. Hero work isn’t as exhausting as this.”

Superboy agreed and M’gan chuckled.

“Where is Eduardo Dorado Jr.?” Forager asked, he looked nervous.

“Texted him a couple minutes ago, should be here soon.” Virgil looked at his phone.

Cassie bumped her shoulder against Virgil’s “He’s probably still out there with that Italian guy.” Her grin was wide.

“What Italian guy?” Tara asked.

Just as she asked that, a flash of gold shone next to Bart and Ed appeared, looking more than miserable and exhausted and quite angry.

Bart didn’t like seeing Ed like this ‘Haven’t seen that expression in a while.’

Ed sighed “Let’s get out of here.”

Cassie laughed and the group started walking.

Wonder girl grabbed Tara and started whispering to her.

Bart and Ed were at the end of the line.

The speedster spoke up “So, how’d it go with _Antonio_?” He made sure to say the name as pretentiously as possible and with a thick, fake Italian accent.

The Argentinian laughed, but the tired expression returned to his face quickly after “Don’t even want to talk about it...”

“So, pretty bad huh?”

Ed sighed, he’d started calming down, being around Bart always helped “That’s one way to put it.”

Bart put his hand on Ed’s shoulder.

The taller teen looked him in the eyes and smiled “Thanks.”

They continued their walk towards their rooms in silence.

**Milan, Hotel Bulgari**

**April 22, 12:47 GMT+2**

The speedster had woken up not too long ago, he’d fixed himself in the bathroom, then had promptly returned to bed and was scrolling through Flitter. Some of the interviews from the event had come out already and their fans were relentless with how much fun they’ve made out of them.

‘What’d we do to deserve such funny people liking us?’

He continued scrolling, until a picture of Ed from last night popped up. He was smiling, looking straight ahead, his eyes gentle.

Bart unconsciously lingered on the picture a bit longer than needed, then put his phone away and laid on his back. ‘Wonder if Ed’s feeling better since last night... Not being aware of a crush is definitely easier... ignorance truly is bliss.’

He turned away from his phone and looked out the large window, the sky was a lovely blue colour, the superheroes would be leaving soon. They have the rooms until the end of the day.

Just as Bart was growing annoyed with not doing anything, his phone vibrated. He quickly rolled over and grabbed it from the other side of the bed, it was a text from... Jaime.

Bart felt himself flush at the fact he was annoyed by a text by his mejor amigo, but it’s not his fault he was hoping for somebody else.

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: How’s it going? 👀

Kid CRASH: 😑

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: 👍

Kid CRASH: DONT JUST “THUMBS UP” ME

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: What else am I supposed to do?!

Kid CRASH: wyd

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: just finished a call with Traci 💙

Bart rolls his eyes, but in a loving matter, of course he was talking with his girlfriend. He got a bit sad at the end, but quickly averted his attention back to Jaime.

They continued to text about random stuff, until...

Kid CRASH: OMG ED JUST TEXED ME

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: What did he say? Also calm down amigo

Kid CRASH: texted*

Kid CRASH: Just asking wyd and if I wanna hang out

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: say yes?

Kid CRASH: of course I’m gonna day yes

Kid CRASH: say*

Kid CRASH: autocorrect 😑

I’m blue da ba dee da baa DIE: have fun, keep me updated 😎😉

Bart quickly switched to his chat with Ed.

EDgy: Wyd

EDgy: Wanna hang out

EDgy: ???

KA-CHOW: nothing

KA-CHOW: sure, where do u want to meet

EDgy: on this floor’s balcony?

KA-CHOW: see u in a flash ⚡️

EDgy: oof

Bart quickly got up from bed and put on his shoes. He looked at himself in the mirror and slowly left his room, like a regular person slow, annoying.

He had to walk from one side of the floor to the other and what’s worse is he had to do all that walking like a normal person would, because of secret identities and all that...

The speedster reached the balcony, the wall and the door were made completely out of glass. He noticed Ed leaning against the railing and looking down. Bart opened the door and started walking towards the Argentinian.

When he got close he got the urge to wrap his arms around Ed’s waist and pull him close, but quickly dismissed the thought with a slight blush and leaned against the railing next to Ed.

“Hey, amigo!” Bart smiled.

Ed looked at him “Took you long enough.” He teased.

Bart rolled his eyes, still smiling “Well, not my fault you got so used to my superspeed.”

Ed raised one eyebrow “Oh, yeah, like it’s not driving you nuts to have to do everything like a regular guy.”

Bart shook his head from side to side and firmly stated “Not at all, it’s actually refreshing.”

Ed continued to look at him with the same unbelieving expression.

Bart rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the railing “Okay, a bit.”

He turned away and leaned against the metal, a silence stretched across them.

Bart leaned against Ed playfully then stepped away “A penny for your thoughts?”

The Argentinian looked up, the sun shining softly “Just thinking about last night.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know, man... the guy was just...” Ed’s expression was a mix between disgust and disappointment.

Bart put his hand on Ed’s shoulder “Okaaayyyy, sooo what happened?”

The other teen took a deep breath and looked down at the garden “First of all dude drags me away from you like nobody’s business with his oh-so-generous offer of advertising.” Ed was being satirical, but the annoyance was clear in his voice.

Bart’s heart almost skipped a beat at the _‘you’_.

Eduardo continued “So he’s talking and talking and _talking_... and I’m, over there, trying to get the conversation back to the centre and the advertisements, you know, the thing we were actually supposed to discuss!” At this point Ed’s fist was on the railing.

Bart was listening to every word, his distaste for the Italian growing.

“At the same time he ain’t stopping being all touchy feely, I was trying to be all subtle and stuff, while moving away from him, you know, I didn’t want to explicitly tell him to go as far away from me as possible... because we were here for good press and what not.” The Argentinian was rolling his eyes and pushing himself away from the railing with his hands, his voice was growing angrier and his rant faster.

He leaned once more against the cool metal “The dude was pretending he’s Casanova or something, I thought he was flirting from the start, but I’m not good with the whole are they are they not flirting thing you know?” He turned towards Bart his expression quizzical.

“Oh, he was _definitely_ flirting.” Bart responded immediately, his voice slightly more pissed off then he wanted it to be. His checks quickly turned a light shade of pink.

Ed’s as well, but he also had a small smile for a bit, until he continued with his rant “Anyways so first he drags me to dance which was sooooo annoying, but tolerable, I guess... Oh yeah! And we still aren’t talking about the thing we were supposed to, mind you, it probably has been like an hour, maybe more, it felt like too long...” The superhero was just sounding tired at this point.

Kid Flash rolled his eyes “What an ass.”

“I know right! Anyways finally the douche drags me to the garden and low and behold I finally get him to talk about the advertising! Turns you he doesn’t know anything! And I mean, anything about it! His mothers run the whole thing and he just gets money from them... he had absolutely no intention of helping me! And then he had the audacity to try and kiss me! Can you imagine?!” Ed’s hands were in the air and he was really angry.

Bart swallowed his own anger and asked “So what happened next?”

“Well I moved away and asked him “What are you doing?” Hoping that the awkwardness of the situation would make him leave, how naive of me! I don’t remember what he said, something cringey that sounded good only in his head and afterwards he tried once again.” Ed was talking fast, some words louder, some quieter, but all filled with anger.

El Dorado continued “I was literally saved from the text announcing we were leaving, I told him I was going, didn’t give him a chance to reply and teleported to the ballroom, then noticed you and teleported over there.” He finished his rant with a deep sight and leaned against Bart’s shoulder, resting his head against Bart’s “I just wished he hadn’t wasted my time and kept me from spending the evening the way I wanted to.”

“How did you want to spend it?”

Ed looked away from Bart, blushing slightly “You know, with...you.” The end of the sentence was quieter then the beginning.

Bart was blushing, but there was a smile on his face “I would’ve liked that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

After a beat Bart continued talking “I mean sorry that dude basically lied to try and get into your pants... you deserve better.” He finished awkwardly, his blush intensifying.

Ed’s cheeks also darkened and he smiled “You always make me feel better, no matter what.” He looked straight ahead, the sun high in the sky.

Bart smiled and looked at Ed’s profile for a bit before also focusing on the horizon.

Ed once again leaned against Bart, the speedster slowly put his arm around the Argentinian’s waist and leaned against him.

They watched the blue sky and the sun as it’s beams illuminated the garden, feeling content and happy in each other’s presence.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! You made it to the end! Thank you! I hope it was interesting. I tried to write something, that might feel like it fits inside of their Universe, I hope I succeeded.
> 
> Also a not-really-fun fact this idea came to me while listening to a song with the same title, it's by Elena, it's weird, but I like it. 
> 
> Kudos/Comments are very much appreciated.


End file.
